VISTA - You may have seen the commercials for years and wondered, where is there a Sonic in San Diego County? Before this year, the answer was nowhere. The San Diego area's first opened in Santee earlier this year and now a new location has opened in Vista.
"Where are you? Why do you show these commercials?" is what so many people say to Sonic owner David Powroznik whenever he wears a company t-shirt. He said that sort of built up intrigue paid off on opening day in Vista when close to 5,000 customers lined up for a bite.
"Sonic has been playing commercials for years in Northern San Diego, and this is the first time that's there's one Sonic!" said Vista resident Kyle Marks.
He and his friends sang loudly as they pulled into the parking lot. "Its Sonic time. Its Sonic time! What! What!"
Sonic is a 1950's style drive-in, complete with servers on roller-skates. They are known for a diverse menu, "Its the variety of the menu, the chili cheese conie, the 168,000 drink combinations" said owner Powroznik.
He said that "variety" makes SONIC better than another Southern California fast food favorite, IN-N-Out. "IN-N-Who?...They have a great product and great brand, but its basically 4 items."
Sonic was started in Oklahoma in 1959. There are more than 3,500 locations across the country. Now, they are finally moving west.
"I used to drive six hours in Washington to the nearest Sonic" said Vista resident Thomas Bixler.
On opening night of the Vista Sonic, his wait time was two hours."Worth 2 hours? For the tater tot, I'm not sure but for the whole experience its been pretty cool."
Kyle Marks said the burger at IN-N-Out was still better, but the diversity of Sonic's menu was a welcome change. "Sooo good! Look at it, it looks so good!"
The Vista restaurant is located at 101 Main Street.
